Everlast: Knights of the Cornerstone
by Moviemanev
Summary: One man's journey to find his way back.
1. Prologue

My name is Jax Armos, and this prologue is written that you may understand the place from which I came into your world. My world is far older than yours, in fact at the time your world was discovering the wheel, we had already learned to harness our sun's power and use it for our own purposes. Our ships could leave the water and take to the air, and our blades burned with the fires of a forge. For centuries we lived in an unparalleled age of peace, under our mighty Lord Cornerstone. He had been with us since the beginning, and had taught us how to live for what was good and right. He kept us safe and loved all of us like we were his own children. Then one night, the Prince of Light, one of Lord Cornerstone's high counsel, betrayed the Order. He gathered Knights of the Cornerstone and together they formed a rebellion. The years of war that followed were bitter and harsh. I and my brother Stephan, both Knights of the Cornerstone ourselves, fought bravely for our Lord. Then in our darkest hour, after years of struggle, Lord Cornerstone himself entered the battle. Hope shone brightest in our hearts that day, but it was shattered when our Lord was struck down in battle. For three long days we barely held our ground against the Prince's onslaught. When their forces were about to overtake us, like lightning from the sky, our Lord Cornerstone returned! How, no one knew. The battle turned back in our favor, and the war was all but won. We were sent on a mission to hunt down and destroy the remaining fragments of the Prince's army in the west. My brother and I strayed from the group and stumbled upon a stone clearing. In the center there was a well, and beyond that a tree which grew strange fruit. As we approached, it seemed that the sounds and smells of the world grew faint and died. Never had I heard such melodious quiet. We examined the fruit for ourselves, and ate. The air in our lungs seemed richer, and our blood redder. An incredible thirst came upon us and we came to the well to drink. As we scooped the water into our mouths, a plate on the side of the well caught my eye. It read "The Lord Cornerstone's Spring". I once I realized we were not worthy of this food or drink. Before I could open my mouth to speak, light came from the sky and engulfed both me and my brother. The following entries are from my private log, which I have kept since I joined the Knights of the Cornerstone. The entries I made before I came to your world were lost, but I now submit these writings to you, that you may know and understand my life's purpose. To find my way back, to the Cornerstone.


	2. Wandering

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 176. DAY 45. YEAR 7839 YC

When I woke this morning I had almost forgotten what had happened. The dust in my mouth told me that i had been sleeping on the ground. I have found that all my previous entires in this log have been erased, but at the moment I do not feel led to repeat them. I am in a panic, and I don't know if anyone will believe this, Cornerstone forgive me. I think I am in another world! I-I cannot make contact with any of the other Knights, my brother is nowhere to be found. My brothers, you know that our world is a lush and beautiful place, full of trees and water. This place in which I have found myself is nothing at all like what we have seen. I cannot see anything familiar, there is only dirt and sand that goes on in an endless flatness for as far as I can see. I don't know how I came to be here, I hardly remember anything at all from the past few days, and without my log, I might never remember. I feel frustrated that I am stuck out here in the middle of this nothingness while my comrades fight bravely against the prince and his hordes! I will try and find any life out here, I will try and find out where I am. Jax Out.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 177. DAY 46. YEAR 7839 YC

I have been wandering for days in this wilderness. I have seen strange creatures, feathered monsters that fly in the air like our sky-ships, and scaled beasts that dwarf the Prince's war machines! However I have not found any sign of sentient life. It is strange, as I continue in this desert I can find no food or drink, yet I do not long for any. I have not hungered of thirst in two days, yet I do not grow weary or faint. If I ever accomplish my mission, I will think about this more. Right now, I must continue on. Jax Out.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 178. DAY 47. YEAR 7839 YC

My brother will never believe what I have seen, nor likely will any that read this log. As I walked today I at last came upon vegetation. And such vegetation! Never have I seen such green plants, or such appetizing fruits! I could see from a hill as I came upon this vast oasis, that there was indeed water in this strange world I had entered. I could see blue rivers running through the green trees and plains that lay before me. As I approached however, it seemed that around the border of all this lush greenery was a large amount of overgrowth. So much so that it would be impossible to cut through or climb over. I walked around the massive perimeter of this perfect garden for miles. Until at last I came to a clearing in the brush and thought that my chance to enter this seeming paradise had finally come. However as I turned the corner, the view that met my eyes was far more terrifying than I expected! There standing at the entrance to the oasis was a man. At least I thought he was a man at first, he had the body of a man, but his head was full of fur and looked like a great and powerful beast, and he had the legs of a hooved animal as well. He glowed like lightning, and his sword was clothed in flame brighter than the sun! At the very sight of him I fell to my face in fear. It was unlike anything I had ever seen! As I lay trembling at this thing's feet, I heard a loud voice say: "You who are not of men, do not be afraid. The curse of death has not touched you, for you have eaten of the fruit of life." At that moment all that I had done came back to me. I felt fear and excitement all at the same time at the sound of the voice. I looked up and saw that it came from the creature, but it did not open it's mouth. "You may not enter this way. No one can. Depart, for I have been given charge over this gateway." I tried to ask him more questions, like how I came to be in this world, how would I get back, but h simply stood silently at his post. I dared not try to pass him. No, I am wandering still. Lost in this vast desert, left alone with only my thoughts of the incredible things I have seen today. Jax Out.


	3. False Salvation

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 468. DAY 24. YEAR 7914 YC

Today is my 100th birthday. I should be dead. No man wanders in the dessert for 75 years without food or water and survives to be this age. I cannot explain it. I do not feel old, I want for no nourishment, and still I do not feel tired. This world it seems is empty! No one have I come across! No sentient life aside from that marvelous creature I saw all those years ago. I have searched for that miraculous garden again, but I cannot find it. It is like it disappeared from the face of this world. I feel myself beginning to go mad. My mind is slipping. I feel that keeping this log is pointless, as no one will likely ever read it. By now the war is won at home. My brothers in arms have celebrated with their families and grown old while I wander in endless loneliness. What is the purpose of this Lord Cornerstone? Why am I here?

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 589. DAY 53. YEAR 7916 YC

I have wandered far and wide and have decided to settle at an oasis I often pass. It is small, a few trees and small fruit bearing plants. It will serve well as a home. I do not know how long I will be here, and I do not know how long I shall live. But I will remain here. This is where my log will stop. Hopefully one day I will have reason to pick it up again. Jax Out.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 590. DAY 269. YEAR 8276 YC

Today is a historic day! Today I begin my old log anew. I have reread my previous entries and today's events bring tears to my eyes. It has been nearly 300 years I have waited, and today for the first time I have met a man! Yes, it seems that there is intelligent life on this world! I awoke this morning to wash myself, and there at the watering hole was a man with dark skin and a large furry beats which he referred to as a "camel." For some reason there was no language barrier, we immediately understood each other and began speaking. He said he was from a great city! Yes a city! In all my wandering I had not seen the faintest clue of civilization, and now I discover that there are thousands of people living here. The thought of talking to someone besides myself thrills me to know end! I have not told him much about myself. Who would believe me? I told him my name and he seemed to think it strange. His name is Yosef, a strange name by my standards as well. We set out for his city tomorrow. At long last I will see what awaits me in this world! Jax Out.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 591. DAY 270. YEAR 8276 YC

Today I have seen what this world holds, and so far I am not impressed. We entered the city, which was surrounded by a stone wall, at mid day. It seems that this world has not progressed in technology like we have. Their instruments are crude, and their clothing is that of the poorest beggars in our world. The use their animals for transportation, and it seems that their morale code is far inferior to our own. Upon entering the city, my senses were attacked by offensive odors, sights and sounds. It appears that this world has women, and these women offer themselves to men for money! Men staggered out of stone and clay houses drunk. I witnessed a man drown in his own vomit today. Others fought and yelled curses at one another in the streets. Needless to say after 300 years of wandering in the desert, my armor which once held such luster now blended quite nicely with my new surroundings. To be honest, I am appalled at this society in which I have been brought into. Yosef seemed unbothered, and has decided to let me stay with his family for the night, and possibly help me get settled in the coming weeks. I can only hope things will get better. Jax Out.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 592. DAY 274. YEAR 8276 YC

Apparently I am to be a carpenter. It seems that this society lacks any form of government, and therefore has no army! Men are left to fend for themselves in times of trouble. Economy is virtually non existent, and these people rely almost solely on bartering for everything. I spent time in the art of craftsmanship in my time before the Knights. I can only hope I remember what I learned. I feel my talent is wasted, after 300 years I wanted to get back to what I was good at. Now I feel I am doomed to a life of monotony living in this backwards mudball of a world. Yosef is being very gracious and is helping me to set up a sort of shop in the lower level of his home. I do not wish to be ungrateful, but still I feel betrayed by my Lord Cornerstone. Why would he do this to me? I served him loyally for all the days of my life! Why this? Why now? Questions I feel that will never be answered. It seems I am stuck here. Stuck here making things out of wood.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 593. DAY 134. YEAR 8352 YC

Yosef died today. His wife died 5 years ago, and his children were killed in the streets like so many are everyday. I have inherited his home. I continue in my carpentry.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 594. DAY 321. YEAR 9978 YC

I had feared this log lost to time! I have not written in over 1000 years, fearing my life doomed to monotony. The city had grown immense. More people everyday. Lying, stealing, killing, raping, destroying. Everyday things grew worse. I was thinking about moving away, I had seen the changes of this city over the many years, none of them good. Until one day I heard talk of a sick man. Sick of the mind, not of the body. Who claimed that the world would be consumed in water and all would perish. Nine days ago the rain started. It has not stopped once, I have not seen the sun, not a singe ray of light! The foundations of the city are starting to melt, and the waters pile up higher everyday. My shop has flooded, and I barley retrieved this log in time. I journey to the highlands tonight with some of my neighbors. We'll see what happens form there.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 595. DAY 324. YEAR 9978 YC

No man has seen what we have seen! The rains continue as they have for days, but as we neared high ground two days ago, the earth split open, and more water burst forth from the ground! I have never seen anything like it! It's as if the sea snuck under the land and exploded upward! I have seen the city I have lived in for 1000 years crumble and fall in a massive whirlpool today. My neighbors and I continue to head up the mountain, cold and wet. But the hillsides have become waterfalls, and the water is rising more rapidly. I have seen many animals floating dead in the water below, not even they could outrun this flooding death. The valley is now a sea, and the sky is an endless gray. The mountains are our only refuge.

--

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 596. DAY 330. YEAR 9978 YC

This cannot be natural. What were once mighty mountains are now small Islands on an endless sea! Our homes are gone, ruins beneath the waves, The rain has continued, and I can only assume that water continues to spill from the earth beneath the new ocean. My neighbors cry to the sky, screaming with hunger and weariness. All food has been wiped out, and the water is now undrinkable. The last of the group I came here with dropped dead this morning, what air that was left in him bubbling up in the cold waters. Now I am alone on a slowly shrinking Island with strangers. The waters will surly overcome us. There is no mistaking that now. We will all drown. This is truly the end of the world.


	4. After the Storm

ARMOS, JAX. LOG ENTRY 598. DAY 211. YEAR 10978 YC

By the Cornerstone! I thought this log was lost forever! Just today I stumbled upon it, lying in the dirt on my way to the tower! I suppose I should explain what has happened for the purposes of the log. My word, reading my previous entries I now remember the hopelessness I had during that situation, and for good reason. It has been another 1000 years since my pen has written on these pages. The flood I had written about did indeed claim the lives of all those who were with me on that mountaintop. The waters covered everything, I should have drown. I did drown. My lungs filled with water, and it felt like my insides were on fire! I choked and suffocated but could not reach the surface, the waves kept me down. I tried to swim, but the pain I was feeling was too much. I just wanted to die! However, I did not die. I floated in endless immortal suffering on top of that mountain at the bottom of the ocean for over a month. Every second screaming in my mind, cursing the Lord Cornerstone for what he did to me! His food and drink made me this way, and I am certain that he sent me here for punishment. However after many, many days the waters began to recede, and I found myself back on dry ground, vomiting up the salt water that had filled my lungs for weeks! The tall mountain was now a small Island again, and the sea still stretched on forever. I was content however to just lay there in the sun. No suffering, no pain, just the sound of the waves. As the days went by, an olive tree that I thought had been killed by the flood began filling with green leaves, and it brought me shade and comfort. The waters receded further and more, and more of the mountain emerged from the sea every day. Then one day I saw the first sign of animal life since the rains began. A small white dove came and landed on the olive tree I was lying under and picked a branch off in it's beak. I tried to catch it so that I could have an animal companion with which to pass the time, but it flew off with the branch, back over the open sea. Eventually the waters receded fully and I was able to journey back down the mountain and inspect the ruins of the city. Most everything had been wiped clean off the face of the earth. There was hardly any evidence that people had been there at all. I gathered what I could and set off to find any more survivors. Again I wandered for hundreds of years as I had done before. When at last I found civilization again, it seemed that things had changed. The people of this world no longer seemed as brutal and harsh as they had before. Perhaps it was the flood, or maybe it was me. In any case I welcomed the change. Their city was in the east, in a country they called Shinar. And a grand city it was. No longer were they a primitive race. These men had brains about them, architects and scholars had finally emerged. I gladly joined them this time and after a few hundred more years, our city was the jewel of the world. We decided our city needed a landmark, something that all would recognize. Plans were drawn up for the most ambitious building project this world has ever seen. A massive tower, reaching higher into the sky than any man had yet ventured. It will be our mark upon the world. And that is where I travel to now. The tower is nearing completion, and in a few short months, it will be finished. I am happy I found this log today. It was a pleasant surprise, and now I can continue to document our amazing accomplishment!


End file.
